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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Yeah, the best thing we could do for the economy would be to turn every WalMart into a worker-owned co-op, and start making shit again.
"...to be active consumers once again."
I am with you except on this point. If that's the goal again, then the basic problem has not even been touched. We need an economy that doesn't exist for its own sake, which is what the consumer-based mentality is about---not satisfying human need or want, to say nothing of the wider world, but boosting the economy. An economy that HAS to grow in order to exist at all is fundamentally unsustainable, no matter how many feel-good green technologies you got running it.
...what we don't need is for the feds to hand over the money to local jurisdictions and expect them to build new infrastructure. Where I live, that would just mean handing out contracts to the same ten families who benefited from the Republican-era tax cuts. It would be far better to train and employ PEOPLE in a coordinated rebuilding of America.
I would shop too. You can pack that stuff up and take it with you when you're evicted by the bank.
Lovely explanation, Andrew. One point to add:
But let's suppose you are not underwater on your mortgage, you don't have any credit card debt, you're gainfully employed, and you are staring at a $499 price tag for a 32-inch flat screen HDTV from Sony?
The thing is, the people who are not underwater on their mortgage, don't have any credit card debt, and are gainfully employed -- I write as someone who meets criteria #1 and #2 and, sorta, #3 (self-employed) -- are very often people who got that way because they don't spend their time staring at $499 price tags for things they don't need. I'm not saying financially prudent people are angels; just that prudence begats prudence.
As you say, today the prudent will not make stupid purchases and the profligate no longer have the cash to make stupid purchases (and can't get credit). The trick is to figure out how to grow the economy again without anyone having to go back to being stupid. Which will require a different system from the one we have had.
Here are the four horses of the Economic Apocalypse.
The first horse is WalMart, which denies the profit margin motive. As a capitalist you make as much money as possible on every item you sell, Walmart has the opposite economic principle. They drive the profit out of the system.
The second horse is Greenspan/Bernanke and their no fault economy. There is no moral hazard, no moral advantage to saving money, because everyone is in the same boat.
The third horse is government spending. In a socialist system, anyone who creates a need, is equally important as anyone who fills that need. Prisoner and prison guard are moral equivalents. That is the third horse
The fourth horse is private money. The fault of the gold hoarders is that they believe that gold is money, personal money.They believe having gold is the same as having your own personal currency. When people lose faith in public money, they are not going to swap into personal money. Although the barter system was viable in the last Depression, the ruination of public money is only beginning to take hold of the public mind. The solution is not personal money. Repeat, only creating a sound public money, backed by gold, will repair the damage.
Ford, Chrysler and GM's contributions after 9/11
An interesting commentary...You might find this of interest:
Headline News did a short news listing regarding Ford and GM's contributions to the relief and recovery efforts in New York and Washington .
The findings are as follows.....
1. Ford - $10 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions of the same number plus 10 Excursions to NY Fire Dept. The company also offered ER response Team Services and office space to displaced government employees.
2. GM - $10 million to American Red Cross matching employee contributions of the same number and a fleet of vans, suv's, and trucks.
3. Daimler Chrysler - $10 million to support of the children and victims of the Sept. 11 attack.
4. Harley Davidson motorcycles - $1 million and 30 new motorcycles to the New York Police Dept.
5. Volkswagen - Employees and management created a Sept 11 Foundation, funded initially with $2 million, for the assistance of the children and victims of the WTC.
6. Hyundai - $300,000 to the American Red Cross.
7. Audi - Nothing.
8. BMW - Nothing.
9. Daewoo - Nothing.
10. Fiat - Nothing.
11. Honda - Nothing despite boasting of second best sales month ever in August 2001
12. Isuzu - Nothing.
13. Mitsubishi - Nothing.
14. Nissan - Nothing.
15. Porsche - Nothing. Press release with condolences via the Porsche web site.
16. Subaru - Nothing.
17. Suzuki - Nothing.
18. Toyota - Nothing despite claims of high sales in July and August 2001. Condolences posted on the web site.
Whenever the time may be for you to purchase or lease a new vehicle, keep this information in mind. You might want to give more consideration to a car manufactured by an American-owned and / or American based company. Apart from Hyundai and Volkswagen, the foreign car companies contributed nothing at all to the citizens of the United States ...
It's OK for these companies to take money out of this country, but it is apparently not acceptable to return some in a time of crisis. I believe we should not forget things like this. Say thank you in a way that gets their attention.
Nice Article. However, note that the linked NYT article cites a 4 percent annualized economic contraction rate - not the 4 percent per quarter this article states. Hopefully things won't get that bad.
How about an education spending spree? The State of California is laying off teachers in order to meet budget concerns. Why don't we invest in ourselves and our children, since this is clearly a national shortcoming? Did you know that there is a staggering number of workers in Silicon Valley hailing from other countries, particularly India? With the right kind of programs, Americans can receive more education that allow them to compete in the tech industry instead of giving those jobs to foreign workers.
What we most dearly need is to move ourselves away from a market of crap. The U.S. economy should not be based on Walmart totchkes. The American consumer should be investing their Christmas money on things that matter--like better educations, healthier foods, and green technology. At least this crisis is an opportunity to reexamine the foundation of our economy. I don't think that Mr. Leonard's (tricked out SUV's) suggestion is the route that we want to take.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
